After the US unleashes the ‘Mother Of All Bombs’, here are the most destructive weapons that could be used in break-out of war
As tensions reach boiling point between the US, Russia, China and North Korea, here are the most dangerous weapons in their arsenals
AS the threat of nuclear war reaches its highest level since the Cold War, world leaders are putting on shows of strength with the most powerful weapons at their disposal.
As tensions reach boiling point between the US, Russia, China and North Korea, here is a run down of the deadliest weapons in their arsenals.
THE MOST POWERFUL HYDROGEN BOMB
The RDS-220 hydrogen bomb, also known as the “Tsar Bomba”, is the biggest and most powerful thermo nuclear bomb ever detonated.
It was exploded by the Soviet Union on 30 October 1961 over Novaya Zemlya Island in the Russian Arctic Sea.
The hydrogen bomb was air dropped by a Tu-95 bomber.
It has the equivalent explosive power of 3,800 Hiroshima bombs.
‘SATAN 2’ STEALTH NUKE
Russia claims to have tested a nuclear weapon which is so powerful it could reportedly destroy a whole country in seconds.
The missile, which has been dubbed ‘Satan 2’, is rumoured to be the most powerful ever designed which could obliterate an area the size of Texas or France.
It is equipped with stealth technology to help it dodge enemy radar systems.
TRUMP’S TRIPLE NUKE THREAT
America’s new submarine-based ‘supernukes’ are now so powerful the Russians may be spooked into launching pre-emptive strikes.
The latest update to its Trident missile programme – aboard Navy subs – virtually guarantees every single missile will explode at the exact moment to cause maximum devastation.
A new so-called ‘super fuze’ – or timing element – means the ballistic missile fleet has TRIPLED its destructive potential, according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists report.
The US has an arsenal of more than 7,200 nuclear bombs.
THE ‘MOTHER OF ALL BOMBS’
The US dropped the GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb to wipe out ISIS militants in Afghanistan last week.
It is one of the most powerful weapons ever created and is nicknamed ‘Mother Of All Bombs’ because of its acronym.
The MOAB weighs in at more than 10,000 kilograms and contains a huge 8,164 kilograms of explosives.
Its blast is equivalent to 11 tons of TNT. By contrast, the nuclear weapon dropped on Hiroshima had a blast yield of 15 tons of TNT.
The bomb was designed by the US Air Force in the run up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
THE ‘BUNKER BUSTING’ MOP
The Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, is a ‘bunker busting’ explosive that experts believe the US may use to destroy Kim Jong-un’s underground nuclear sites.
The 30,000-lb American bomb is perhaps the heaviest conventional weapon in the world – but its explosive power does not match the MOAB.
In 2013, the MOP was redesigned to give it the added power needed to burst through the most hardened of underground sites.
The B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is the only aircraft in the US Air Force capable of carrying and releasing the bomb.
RUSSIA’S ‘FATHER OF ALL BOMBS’
Vladimir Putin boasts an even bigger bomb in his arsenal that the mighty ‘Mother Of All Bombs’.
Officially known as the Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power – Putin’s mega-weapon has been dubbed the ‘Father Of All Bombs’.
It is reportedly four times bigger than the MOAB, carrying 44 tonnes of TNT and explodes in the same way as the US bomb.
Due to the sheer number of explosives crammed inside it causes similar blast damage to that of a nuclear weapon.
WHAT ABOUT NUKE-MAD NORTH KOREA?
North Korea claims to have carried out five successful nuclear tests: in 2006, 2009, 2013 and in January and September 2016.
But in order to launch a nuclear attack on its neighbours, it needs to be able to make a nuclear warhead small enough to fit on to a missile.
North Korea claims it has successfully “miniaturised” nuclear warheads – but this has never been independently verified.
SUPER-POWERED US LASERS
The US military is close to unveiling new super-powered lasers capable of zapping nukes straight out of the sky.
The 150-kilowatt weapons will be fitted to warships and are able to ‘take out’ drones, aircraft, cruise missiles and even other ships.
It’s now believed in a year’s time the weapon will be ready to be deployed on board a US aircraft carrier or destroyer.
HOW IS BRITAIN PROTECTED?
Trident is Britain’s nuclear weapons deterrent.
The UK has four Vanguard-class submarines which can carry up to 16 Trident II D5 ballistic missiles, each armed with up to eight nuclear warheads.
Each missile can fire at a variety of targets with a range of 7,500 miles.
Each warhead is believed to be eight times as powerful as the atomic bomb which killed 140,000 people in Hiroshima in 1945.
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